Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2464
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Paul Dano works on versatility rather than volume, and the catalogue keeps proving that the quieter choice was the correct one.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Paul Dano appears in 26 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Paul. Prisoners is the clearest case: a film rated 8.3 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for drama, thriller, music. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Florian Zeller, Olivier Assayas, Sia and others, Paul Dano helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Prisoners (2013) as Alex Jones · There Will Be Blood (2007) as Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday · 12 Years a Slave (2013) as John Tibeats
Career snapshot
Ranked #2464 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
26
2004–2027
Career length
23 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.3
Prisoners
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.1
Prisoners
Most frequent director
Jonathan Dayton
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Jonathan Dayton
Most common genre
Drama
20 titles
Average runtime
1h 58m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.9
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.4
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2010s
6.9 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Okja, Swiss Army Man, Youth — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.9
Across 11 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.9
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2000s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Where the Wild Things Are, Taking Woodstock, There Will Be Blood.
Most productive era
2010s
11 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.86 films | 7.18 films | 5.66 films |
| Action | — | 6.54 films | — |
| Thriller | 6.41 film | 7.03 films | 4.83 films |
| Comedy | 6.73 films | 6.84 films | 6.71 film |
| Crime | — | 8.31 film | 7.91 film |
| Romance | — | 7.03 films | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2004Taking Lives
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Young Asher.
Career peak
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Highest rated performance
2013Prisoners
8.3 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Most recent film
2027Bunker
The current state of the argument.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
26 of 26 films
as Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
as John Tibeats
Directed by Steve McQueen
as Alex Jones
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
as The Riddler
Directed by Matt Reeves
as Burt Fabelman
Directed by Steven Spielberg
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Performance score8.3
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday gives Paul Dano a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
John Tibeats
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Performance score8.0
12 Years a Slave asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. John Tibeats is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Alex Jones
Prisoners (2013)
Performance score8.0
Prisoners asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Alex Jones is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
The Riddler
The Batman (2022)
Performance score7.9
The Batman asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. The Riddler is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday
Start here. There Will Be Blood is the clearest statement of what Paul Dano does — accessible, 158 minutes, and rated 8.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Paul at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Keeps the drama register of There Will Be Blood but asks for a colder reading of it.
Prisoners (2013)
Keeps the drama register of 12 Years a Slave but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Batman (2022)
Keeps the crime register of Prisoners but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Fabelmans (2022)
A deliberate change of key after The Batman — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Jonathan Dayton
Director
2 films together
Notably Little Miss Sunshine
D.J. Caruso
Director
1 film together
Notably Taking Lives
Rebecca Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ballad of Jack and Rose
Richard Linklater
Director
1 film together
Notably Fast Food Nation
Paul Thomas Anderson
Director
1 film together
Notably There Will Be Blood
Ang Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Taking Woodstock
Spike Jonze
Director
1 film together
Notably Where the Wild Things Are
James Mangold
Director
1 film together
Notably Knight and Day
Jon Favreau
Director
1 film together
Notably Cowboys & Aliens
Paul Weitz
Director
1 film together
Notably Being Flynn
Rian Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably Looper
Denis Villeneuve
Director
1 film together
Notably Prisoners
Steve McQueen
Director
1 film together
Notably 12 Years a Slave
Paolo Sorrentino
Director
1 film together
Notably Youth
Daniel Kwan
Director
1 film together
Notably Swiss Army Man
Bong Joon Ho
Director
1 film together
Notably Okja
Antoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together
Notably The Guilty
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably The Fabelmans
Matt Reeves
Director
1 film together
Notably The Batman
Craig Gillespie
Director
1 film together
Notably Dumb Money
Johan Renck
Director
1 film together
Notably Spaceman
Sia
Director
1 film together
Notably Sia: Nostalgic for the Present
Olivier Assayas
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wizard of the Kremlin
Florian Zeller
Director
1 film together
Notably Bunker
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Jonathan Dayton
Director
2 films together · 7.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Little Miss SunshineDenis Villeneuve
Director
1 film together · 8.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PrisonersPaul Thomas Anderson
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
There Will Be BloodSteve McQueen
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
12 Years a SlaveMatt Reeves
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The BatmanSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The FabelmansBong Joon Ho
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
OkjaDaniel Kwan
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Swiss Army ManPaolo Sorrentino
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
YouthRian Johnson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LooperJohan Renck
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SpacemanCraig Gillespie
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dumb MoneyOlivier Assayas
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Wizard of the KremlinSpike Jonze
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Where the Wild Things AreAntoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The GuiltyD.J. Caruso
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Taking LivesJames Mangold
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Knight and DayAng Lee
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Taking WoodstockPaul Weitz
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Being FlynnRichard Linklater
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fast Food NationRebecca Miller
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ballad of Jack and RoseJon Favreau
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cowboys & AliensFlorian Zeller
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BunkerSia
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sia: Nostalgic for the PresentSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Prisoners
as Alex Jones
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
12 Years a Slave
as John Tibeats
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Prisoners
as Alex Jones
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Prisoners
as Alex Jones
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
There Will Be Blood
as Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Paul Dano has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
23 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Drama Legend
Awarded
20 catalogue titles in drama, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The Batman
as The Riddler
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Prisoners
as Alex Jones
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Swiss Army Man
as Hank
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Batman
as The Riddler
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Okja
as Jay
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Okja
as Jay
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Ruby Sparks
as Calvin
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Batman
as The Riddler
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
David Krumholtz
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Florence Pugh
Works with the same directors — Denis Villeneuve
David Dastmalchian
Works with the same directors — Denis Villeneuve
Léa Seydoux
Works with the same directors — Denis Villeneuve
Have your say
Community
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Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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